User:Ngriffeth/Voting Rights

Native Americans

The Indian Law Enforcement Improvement Act (S.2010)

In 1975, The Indian Law Enforcement Improvement Act (S.2010) was introduced to give tribes jurisdiction over their own people within the boundaries of the reservations. It was supported by the League of Women Voters of Nebraska, but it was not passed.

The League of Women Voters of Nebraska supported this act, sending a letter from its president Margaret Sutherland and the Indian Item Chairman Karen Buller:

"The League of Women Voters of Nebraska heartily supports HR2010 ... We support self determination and therefore self government of all citizens, in this case Native Americans. ... We believe that self-determination of Indian people not only promises a more secure and democratic future, but also protects against alienation and disrupting the traditions of the past."^[1]

Ballot Collection

The League of Women Voters has supported Native Americans in seeking to remove restrictions on ballot delivery from reservations.^[2]

In 2020, the Native American voting rights group Four Directions filed a suit on behalf of six voters from the Navajo Nation asking the court to extend the deadline for Arizona counties to receive the ballots of voters, because of "lack of home mail delivery, the need for language translation, lack of access to public transportation and lack of access to any vehicle." The court declined to extend the deadline due to lack of standing of the plaintiffs.^[3]

The League of Women Voters of Arizona filed an amicus curiae, saying that

Most Arizonans take access to mail receipt and delivery as a given. By contrast, the District Court recognized the painful reality that "several variables make voting by mail difficult” for Native American voters. More specifically, “[m]ost Navajo Nation residents do not have access to standard mail service,” including home delivery, and must travel “lengthy distance[s]” to access postal services—a burden compounded by “socioeconomic factors.”^[4]

^ United States Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (Subcommittee on Indian Affairs) (1975). Indian Law Enforcement Improvement Act of 1975: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Indian Affairs of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, United States Senate, Ninety-fourth Congress, First Session, on S. 2010. Washington DC: US Government Printing Office. p. 701. letter from League of Women Voters of Nebraska
^ "Full and Real Citizenship: Advancing Native American Voting Rights". The League of Women Voters. October 30, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
^ Yazzie v. Hobbs, 977 F.3d 964,967 (United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 2020).
^ Donofrio, Michael (October 6, 2020). "Brief for League of Women Voters of Arizona as Amicus Curiae in Support of Appellant and Requesting Reversal" (PDF). Four Directions Inc. Retrieved November 25, 2022.

[1] United States Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (Subcommittee on Indian Affairs) (1975). Indian Law Enforcement Improvement Act of 1975: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Indian Affairs of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, United States Senate, Ninety-fourth Congress, First Session, on S. 2010. Washington DC: US Government Printing Office. p. 701. letter from League of Women Voters of Nebraska

[2] "Full and Real Citizenship: Advancing Native American Voting Rights". The League of Women Voters. October 30, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2022.

[3] Yazzie v. Hobbs, 977 F.3d 964,967 (United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 2020).

[4] Donofrio, Michael (October 6, 2020). "Brief for League of Women Voters of Arizona as Amicus Curiae in Support of Appellant and Requesting Reversal" (PDF). Four Directions Inc. Retrieved November 25, 2022.

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